Martin Ferguson (Batman, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Resources and Energy) Share this | Hansard source

It is a very serious issue. I can also advise the House that one of the challenging issues confronting the tourism industry at the moment is inflation. The industry are not only experiencing the impact of oil prices, from both a domestic and an international point of view, but also seeing it feed in through increases in the price of food and beverages. They expect us to operate in an economically proper way—and, at a macro level, that is about taking on the fight against inflation. It is for that very reason that the Australian government made some very tough decisions in the recent budget aimed not only at guaranteeing that we deliver every election promise, including the changes to the export market development program, which are of major assistance to the tourism industry—

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